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CNET Editors' Rating

The GoodYamaha's first budget sound bar delivers solid sound quality for TV and movies. The Yamaha YAS-101's built-in subwoofer will appeal to minimalists who don't want a separate sub, plus it has an innovative feature that passes through remote signals if the TV's sensor is blocked.

The BadIf you like tons of bass or really high volume, the YAS-101 isn't for you. It's also light on features, lacking HDMI inputs, analog audio inputs, and any kind of wireless audio streaming.

The Bottom LineYamaha's YAS-101 is a great budget sound bar, with an excellent design and a helpful feature for dealing with remote signals, although it's light on connectivity.

Yamaha basically created the sound bar category and continues to sell its best-in-class Digital Sound Projector line, but it can be hard to recommend the company's sound bars when they generally cost in excess of $1,000. The YAS-101 ($250 street price) is Yamaha's entry into the increasingly crowded budget sound bar field, and it's one of the few that manages to stand out.

That's largely due to Yamaha's decision to eschew a separate subwoofer, instead using a built-in subwoofer, which gives the speaker system a more streamlined look. The YAS-101 also has a very helpful "IR flasher" on the back, so it will pass remote signals through to your TV if the sound bar is blocking the TV's remote sensor. Sound quality is surprisingly strong for TV and movies, although don't expect miracles with two-channel music. Our major criticism is that the YAS-101's connectivity options are bare-bones, but that's not as much of an issue if you use your TV to switch between devices.

With its reasonable price, simple design with built-in subwoofer, and innovative remote-control workaround, the Yamaha YAS-101 is one of the top budget sound bars available.

Design: Not your average budget sound bar Two design choices set the YAS-101 apart from most budget sound bars: its built-in subwoofer and IR repeater.

The YAS-101 has a built-in subwoofer, which reduces clutter, although doesn't produce quite as much bass as a separate sub.

Most sub-$300 sound bars include a wireless subwoofer, but as mentioned above, the YAS-101 opts instead for a built-in, dual-driver 3-inch subwoofer. A wireless subwoofer isn't a huge imposition on a living room (heck, it's wireless), but a built-in subwoofer may appeal to minimalists who are hesitant even to add a sound bar to their decor.

We thought the down-firing subs might incite rattles and buzzes in our cabinet, but we didn't heard any noises during our listening sessions. (Less sturdy stands may fare worse.) Alternatively, you can hook up an external subwoofer, which would reduce the amount of bass coming from the YAS-101's subs.

The IR repeater is a small strip of plastic that runs along the back of the YAS-101.

The YAS-101's built-in IR repeater is its real standout feature. Sound bars designed to sit on your TV cabinet have the nasty habit of blocking the TV's remote control sensor, making it tough (or impossible) to switch inputs or turn your TV on and off. The Yamaha cleverly gets around this with the IR repeater, which accepts remote signals from any device and fires them out the back, along a strip of IR blasters. It's an excellent solution to a problem other sound bars just ignore.

Features: Surprisingly sparse Inputs are located on the back panel, and it's a weakness of the system. There are three digital inputs (two optical, one coaxial), which is pretty good, but we were surprised that there isn't an analog audio input. That's bad news for Nintendo Wii owners (the console only supports analog audio), although you can likely work around the shortcoming by connecting the Wii to your HDTV and using its digital audio output.

Ex-movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has also worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. Steve currently reviews audio products for CNET and works as a freelance writer for Home Theater, Inner Fidelity, Tone Audio, and Stereophile.
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